Sabrina Dent: Freelance web designer, developer and internet marketer living in Cork, Ireland with one dog and a husband in no particular order.
Sunday Style 03: Irish Indy Etsy
This Monday edition of Sunday Style is brought to you by the fact I had no idea yesterday was Sunday. Now that’s a holiday!
Etsy is one of my favourite places to shop online, perhaps my very favourite. I am just a sucker for unique, handcrafted stuff. All of my sisters got Etsy stuff this Christmas; virtually all of my girl gift giving is done there, and any boy gifts I can find, too. In case you’ve somehow missed the Etsy phenomena, it’s a marketplace somewhat like Ebay, but only lists handmade goods, there’s no auction and you pay the seller directly – normally by PayPal, but cheques work too if your seller is local.
Which, as it happens, works out brilliantly if you’re Irish because there is a small but amazing cadre of women in the Republic and NI turning out some brilliant stuff, mostly all of which I want.
For totally adorable:
- Cattapilla Designs in West Cork makes gorgeous felted handbags, including one I want so badly I am in actual danger of wetting myself.
- Voododoll from Omagh makes the most kick-ass soft dolls, perfect for hipster babies* or girlfriends. Also adorable and totally cheap iPod Nano cases.
- Got art? Check out Sirens Rising for tiny but perfect canvas artwork with original style and fetching characters. More tiny artwork from Vintage with Love in Sligo, who mostly makes jewelery.
Beyond the cute and scrumptious, you can also find fashion items with high style from local Etsy sellers:
- This gorgeous necklace from Darerca Design in Wicklow is lavender and freshwater pearls on crocheted wire and is stunning. And it’s $59!
- Bonzie in Waterford makes original Irish couture clothing with a vintage vibe, including the world’s most gorgeous scarves that are a very reasonable $70. Also jackets, corsets and even custom wedding gowns, none of which I can afford and all of which I want. Drool…
- HuggleKnits is rockin’ the Dublin style with her unique Huggles, a cross between a shrug and a capelet. She’s suggesting wearing them as scarves or at home jumpers but I think they are really cool and would wear them out as a totally hip shrug over something fab. They are $25!
There are loads more Irish sellers, too. Etsy’s user interface is uniformly excellent, except for the regional search, so I can’t link you to the Irish goods. You have to go here and type in Ireland. Prices are set in US$ but for local transactions, you would just pay in yoyos. If you suck at exchange rates, $25 is about €17 – just go here to calculate prices.
*Note: May feature buttons, which are not baby safe unless welded on to doll. Or baby.
31 Dec 2007
| In: Sunday Style |
Crackin blog!
01.01.2008, 2:53 pmThanks so much for including my shop in your list of Irish crackers!
Happy New Year!
x
bonzie
Are you kidding? I love your stuff more than I love my own mother! I’m chuffed to bits that you’re an Irish original, too :)
01.01.2008, 11:57 pm[...] More linkage to Sabrina. She’s a fan of Etsy and links to some Irish Etsy sellers. [...]
04.01.2008, 5:39 amCurse you Sabrina – I am very tempted to buy this:
04.01.2008, 12:03 pmhttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7959427
See? And you totally should! It’s less than €17, sure she’s practically paying you to buy it!
04.01.2008, 4:18 pmThank you for highlighting my Huggles on your site. Have expanded the range now to include, shawls, fingerless mits, bags and some original items. I also do custom orders. Thanks again
07.05.2008, 11:29 amHK